Traditional techniques like sand patch method and circular meter provide the reference value for pavement texture inspection. However, these traditional methods can not effectively fulfill the requirement of the highway pavement texture inspection. The non-contact displacement sensor that is able to provide more accurate and reliable results is desirable. The displacement sensor discussed in th...

The use of falling weight deflectometer—based backcalculation techniques to determine pavement layer moduli is a cost-effective and widely used method for the structural evaluation of an existing pavement. The nonlinear stress-sensitive response of pavement geomaterials has been well established, and mechanisticbased pavement design can be improved by inclusion of these nonlinear material prope...

Complex sensitivity analysis of stresses in a concrete slab of the real type of rigid pavement made from recycled materials is performed. The computational model of the pavement is designed as a spatial (3D) model, is based on a nonlinear variant of the finite element method that respects the structural nonlinearity, enables to model different arrangements of joints, and the entire model can be...

Asphalt road reflectance spectra change as pavement ages. This provides the possibility for remote sensing to be used to monitor a change in asphalt pavement conditions. However, the relatively narrow geometry of roads and the relatively coarse spatial resolution of remotely sensed imagery result in mixtures between pavement and adjacent landcovers (e.g., vegetation, buildings, and soil), incre...

Each year, more than 25 percent of highway fatalities in the United States occur at or near horizontal curves, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). In an attempt to save lives and prevent injuries, some 30 states across the U.S. are applying high friction surfaces (HFS) to improve skid resistance at locations with a high incident of vehicle crashes such as severe horizontal c...

Rain drastically modifies the visual environment of road users, particularly at night. It changes visibility through its effects on headlights, windshield, pavement and markings. Rain lessens the performance of headlamps and other light sources by filtering part of their luminous power, thus reducing the illuminance on the roadway ahead of the vehicle. Rain affects the capacity of the driver to...

As roadway systems age and maintenance budgets shrink, a need emerges for timely and roughness data for pavement maintenance decision-making. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) maintains the third-largest state network of roadways in America, with $1.8 billion budgeted for roadway maintenance in 2012. Pavement assessment data in Virginia is currently collected by a contractor usin...

In 1953, drivers in the United States became involved in 31,450 fatal and 1,302,000 non-fatal accidents. Many of these accidents were primarily the fault of the drivers involved, but a great number might have been minimized or prevented by safer highways. Although many factors are involved in the building of safety into highways, one of the more important items is the resistance of pavement sur...

Pavement surface texture and its skid resistance are two key safety parameters of highways, which both are influenced by pavement characteristics. This research is done on a newly constructed asphalt pavement (Qom-Garmsar freeway) in Iran. The goal is investigating the relation between skid resistance and pavement texture in order to asphalt content changes in Hot Mix Asphalt. Mean Texture Dept...